Cleaning machine



Patented May 1 1, 1943 Kenneth O. Sisson, Dayton, Ohio, and Carl E.

Bowyer, South Bend, Ind., asslgnors to Bendix Home Appliances, Inc.,South Bend, 11111., a corporation 01 Delaware Application August 8,1940, Serial No. 351,884

7 Claims.

This invention relates to laundry machines and more particularly tomachines in which cleaning liquid is extracted from the cleaned materialwithout handling thematerlal between the cleaning and the extractingstages.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a laundry machineincluding a centrifugal extraction operation in which transmission 01vibrations to the base of the machine :is substantially prevented. Thisenables the machine to rest loosely on the floor without the necessityoi anchoring it and without vibrating the floor to an objectionableextent.

Another object oi the invention is to provide a laundry machineincluding an extracting unit rotating upon a relatively horizontal axisfor centrifugal extraction mounted upon a base for irictionally yieldingmovement relative to the base inall' directions normal to the axis ofrotation of the extracting unit. The motor for driving the extractingunit may be mounted to move with the extracting unit or may be mountedupon the relatively stationary base'with suitable transmission means topermit relative movement.

Another object of the invention is to so mount the tub in which theextracting unit rotates and the bearings and such other operating partsof the laundry machine as are not impaired by vibration to receive iorceand consequent move ment from the out-oi-balance Iorces derived from theshaft or the centrifugal extractor and to mount such other parts as areimpaired by vibration upon the relatively stationary base which restsupon the floor.

There are three types of forces imparted to,

the base of a horizontal axis centrifugal extractor; namely, an up anddown or vertical force-j which tends to vibrate the floor ofthe'buildin8.' a horizontal force which tends to slide the base on thefloor and cause the laundry machine to creep laterally and a torsionalforce that tends to cause the laundry machine topivot about" a" centeron the floor and then to gradually A change its lacing position in theroom.

It is only the first of these eiiects that is of great objection. Thelateral and torsional forces are easily restrained on the floor andordinarily do not cause objectionable building vibration. T However, itis not always convenient to restrain the lateral and torsional forces'andit is an object therefore, of this invention to minimize all ofthese forces to such an extent as to make v them entirelyunobjectionable.

Still another object of the invention is to provide movable supportingmeans for a'laundry machine in'which movementbetween therotatlngextracting .unit and the base is yieldingly 'resistedby rubber or the.like in shear.

type of'support provides simple, convenient and inherent .dampeningwhichprevents resonant I oscillations; v

Other objects, advantages and novel features ofxthe invention willappear from the-following description or the embodiment shown in the ac-'companying drawings, in which:

.- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine em bodying the inventionwith parts in section;:;

Figure 21s a'perspective. ot the porting linkage; and

Figure 3 is a partial section of an arm and rub-- bertrunnion oi thesupporting linkage.

The invention isillustrated as applied to an automatic washing machineof the type particul .1 larly. described in Patent-No. 2,173,603 issuedSeptember 19, 1939 to Adiel Y..Dodge. This machine includes a tub Illadapted .to contain a detergent liquid such as soapy'water and having anaxialopening I2 in onezend through which material to be washed maybeinserted. The opposite 'end of the tub is closed by a pair of conicalstampingssecured together. at their edges by a band" l4 and which havebearings at their centers in which ashait l8 isijournalled. v"The.":shaft I Sis rigidly secured toone end oi'a perforated container l8which is rotatable in the tub and which'hasan opening in registerwiththe tub opening l2.

Water may be supplied to the tub through a.

flexible conduit 20 which discharges into the tub adjacent theopeningl2. Water is supplied to the conduit 20. through a pair ofcontroi'valves 22 controlling respectively hot andcold water in,- 1 jlets. One of these valves, for example the cold' water valve, maybeintermittently controlled by-a-thermostatic member 24 in order toprovide .the desired temperature of mixed water in the tub. A floatchamber 26. communicateswith" the lower portion of the tub and has anote. 1

thereinoperating aswitch 28 to shut-cit both of the valves 22 when thewater in the tub reaches the desired level.

The containerrlt is driven bya 'v-belt 30 en-' 7 gaging a pulleyon theshaft-l6 outside of the tub' and a second pulley 32 driven by a motor 34through a two-speedv transmission 36. "A drain pump 38 1s also securedto'and'driven by the motor and receives fluid past a valve controlled Iby a solenoid 40 and pumps the water out through a discharge hose 42.The motor, trarisv f mission, pump and drain valve are all securedyielding suptogether in a unit which is pivotally supported by arms 44from brackets 46 depending from the tub ID. A SIB-i1 2 41 servespartially to s pport the weight of this unit and the remainder of itsweight is carried by the belt 30 to insure that the belt will be kepttight at all times.

A dashpot 48 preferably containing castor oil is interposed between themotor unit and the tub to cause the motor unit to vibrate the tub and toprevent undue periodic independent movement of the motor about itssupport 49.

The transmission and the inlet and drain valves are controlled by asequential controller 50 driven by a small synchronous motor andoperating the several switches and solenoids to provide any desiredsequence of operationfA manual switch 52 is also provided for varyingthe circuits so that the solenoid valves 22 may operate to admit eithermixed hot and cold water onuntempered hot water as desired.

In one cycle of operation the controller 50 may formed of sleeves 10 ofresilient material such as rubber compressed around the rod by a bentover portion of the links 68, as best seen in Figure 2. To the lowerends of the links 68 there are welded or otherwise secured two floatingrods 12 which may move in arcs about their respective supporting rods66. Links 14 are each pivoted at 'one end to a cross rod 12 and at theother end to the tub assembly. The links M at each side of the machineare attached together by a plate 15 Welded to each of the links 14 toform a. substantially rigid structure.

nections between the links H and the cross rods 12 are formed by rubbersleeves or bushings 16 compressed around the rods by clamps 18 .to

. whichthe bent ends of the links I4 are secured.

be" manually moved to a starting position in which one or both of thevalves 22 are opened to admit. water to the tub'and in;which thecontainer I8.is driven at' a low washing'speed by the motor andtransmission. When the water reaches the desired level in the tub itwill be shut off by. theiioat switch 28. Soap or other desired detergentmay be inserted in the tub.

through an opening 54 in the top thereof. The clothes may then be washedfor a desired length of time after which the controller 50 will cause,

the drain valve 40 to opento drain the soapy water from the tub."Additional-water may then be added by again opening the inlet valves 22to rinsethe clothes af-ter'which the transmission may be shifted to itshigh speed position to run the container H3 at high. speed centrifugallyto extractthe water from the clothes. At the conclusion 'of thisoperation the controller will shut off the current to the motor and theclothes may be removed.

The mechanism above described is preferably inclosed in a cabinetindicated-at 56. The cabinet is provided with an opening in one side inis connected to a registering opening in the top of the cabinet by aflexible sleeve member 58.

The cabinet 56 incloses and is supported on a i base or supporting frame60 provided with feet 62 which are preferably of rubber or the like tovrest on the floor. The base is generally rectangue lar in planand hasan upstanding, supporting post 64 at each of its corners on which theoperating assembly may be supported.

According-t0 the present invention the operating assembly including thetub and its connected parts, such as the driving mechanism, is mountedon the supporting frame so as to be movable rela tively: thereto, bothvertically and horizontally sidewise but preferably not forwardly andback wardly. For this purposetwo cross rods 66 are rigidly securedbetween the front and rear vertical legs 64 at the opposite sides of thecasing. A pair of links 68 are pivoted on each .of the cross rods, thepivotal connections as shown being 76 The inner sleeve 83 has notched ortoothed ends which are clamped against the inner faces of the brackets80 by means of a bolt 86 which passes through the sleeve 83 and alignedopenings in the brackets 80. The two sleeves 82 and 83 withthe bondedrubber 84 between them.

yieldingly supportthe tub with the rubber under a normal strain producedby the weight of the tub and. associated parts mounted thereon.

In operation of themachine it sometimes occurs that clothes or othermaterial in the container l8 are not perfectly oruniformiy distrib utedaround the surface of the container when and its associated assemblies,and tends to set the whole of the tub assembly into a gyratory motion.If .this assembly could be freely supported in space it would tend tofind its own center of vibration and move about it, the radius of gyra-'tion depending upon the relative weights of the tub assembly and of theunbalanced load.

The present construction provides a relatively free mounting for the tubunit by which it may seek its owncenter of gyration and move about itwithouttransmitting objectionable vibrational forces to the supportingframe. or the casing.

The provision of the rubber bushings yieldingly resists the gyration andtends to dampen it out. At the same time these bushings provide a meansfor yieldingly supporting the weight of the tub unitso that it may movevertically. Thus when an unbalanced load occurs the tub unit. can movewithin the casing to dissipate the vibrational forces without causingmotion of the outer casing. At the same time the only forces transmittedto the supporting frame are those transmitted through the several rubberbushings and if these bushings are made soft or flexible enough theforceswill be so small as to be unobjectionable. The machine may thusrest freely on a floor and may be operated withan unbalanced loadwithout creating sufiicient forces to move the machine across the flooror to cause vibration of the floor due to the transmission of verticalimpulses.

Since the two links" and theassociated cross plate 15 form asubstantially rigid structure the tub is caused to move in th same pathof gyra- As shown, the pivotal con-- tion at the front and at the reareven though the out of balance load may be located either nearer thefront or nearer the rear of the rotating cylin tub is suspended belowthe rods 66 also aids in preventing large lateral movement.

The words laundry machine as used herein include dry cleaning machinesas well as machines using vwater and water soluble detergents.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described indetail it will be understoodthat this embodiment is intended to beillustrative only and is not to be taken as a deil-' nition of the scopeof the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

l. A mounting for an out-of-balance load rotatable about a relativelyhorizontal axis comprising a container member through which said axisextends, said container member being movable responsive to the forcescreated by the rotation of the out-of-balance load contained therein, abase member, a, pair of links pivoted together at one end of each at asubstantial angle to one ansponsiveto the forces created by therotationof the out-of-balance load, a base member, a pair of linkspivoted together at one end of each at a substantial angle to oneanother, one of said links extending substantially horizontally andhaving itsremote end pivoted to the supporting journal member, theremote end of the other link being pivoted to a portion of the basemember, and a yielding torsion member at the pivot between one of saidlinks and said. supporting Journal member held under normal torsion bythe weight of themass of the supporting journal member and the weight'ofthe rotating mass.

5. 'A mounting for an out-of-balance load rotatable abouta relativelyhorizontal. axis along which theycenter of mass of the out-of-balanceload assumes difierent positions, a supporting journal member for theaxis of the out-of-balance'load movable responsive to the forces'crethenormal position of said axis 7 pair of substantially rigid links, saidlinks being other, the remote end of one link being pivoted to thecontainer member and the remote end of the other link being pivoted to aportion of the base member at least one of the pivotal connections withthe link pivoted to the container member, including a rubber sleeve innormal torsion suflicient to keep the links of the pair at a substantialangle to one another.

2. A mounting for an out-of-balance' load rotatable about a relativelyhorizontal axis, a supporting journal member for theaxls movableresponsive to the forces created by the rotation of the out-of-balanceload, a bas member, a pair of links pivoted together at one end of eachat a substantial angle to one another, the remote end of one link beingpivoted to the supporting jourtatable about a relatively horizontalaxis, a supporting journal member for the axis including parts having aconsiderable mass movable responsive to the forces created by therotation of the out-of-balance load, a, base member, a pair of linkspivoted together at one end of each at a substantial angle tooneanother, one of said links extending substantially horizontally andhaving its remote end pivoted to the supporting journal member, theremote end of the other link being pivoted to a portion of the basemember, the pivot at one end of the substantially horizontal linkincluding a flexible and dampening torsion member.

4. A mounting for an out-of-balance load rotatable about a relativelyhorizontal axis, a supporting journal member for the axis including atedby the rotation of theout-of-balance 10nd,,

means to cause the axis of the rotating mass to move only to positionssubstantially parallel to pivoted together at positions'which are remotefrom one another along the axis of said pivotal connection, a basemember, one of said links being pivoted to the base member at positionswhich are remote from one another along the axis ofthe pivotalconnection of said link with the base member, the other of said linksbeing pivoted to the supporting journal member at positions which areremote from one another along the axis of the pivotal connection betweensaid link and the supporting journal member, and a yielding torsionconnection at the pivot between one'of said links and said supportingjournal member held under normal torsion by the weight of the mass ofthe supporting journal member and the weight of the mass of the rotatingpart.

- 6. A mounting for an out-of-balance load rotatable about a relativelyhorizontal axis along which the center of mass of the out-oi-balanceload assumes different positions, a supporting journal member for theaxis of the out-of-balance load movable responsive to the forces created.by the rotation of the out-of-balance load, means to cause the axis ofthe rotating mass to move only to position approximately parallel to thenormal position of said axis comprising two pairs of substantially rigidlinks, the two links of each pair being pivoted together at positionsremote from one another along the axis of said pivotal connection, abase member, one of said links of one pair being pivoted to the basemember sidewise of the supporting journal member at positions which areremote from one another along the axis of the pivotal connection of saidlink with the base member the corresponding link of the other pair beingcorrespondingly pivoted to the, base member on the opposite side of thesupporting Journal member, one of said links of eachpair being pivotedto the supporting Journa-l member at positions which are remote from oneanother along the axis of the pivotal connection between said link andthe supporting parts having a, considerable mass movable rejournalmember, "the corresponding link of the other pair being pivoted to thesupporting journal member on the opposite side of a vertical planethrough the axisof the supporting journal 1 member, and yielding torsionconnections at the.

pivots between said links and said supporting journal member held undernormal torsion by the weight of the mass of the supporting journalcomprising a member and the weight of the mass of the rotating part.

7. A mounting for an out-of-balance load rotatable about an axis alongwhich the center of mass of the out-ot-balance load assumes differentpositions, thereby applying differing forces to the opposite ends ofsaid axis, a non-rotating'supporting journal member for the axis havinga mass comparable with-the mass of the, rotating part and itsout-of-balance load, a stationary base, said mounting comprising aplurality otarticulated links arranged in pairs, the links of eachpairbeing pivoted together along an axis of such length that the links maymove relative to one another only in a plane substantially normal Y tothe axis of the pivotal connection; the remoteend or one-link of eachpair being connected to the base along an axis of sufllcientlength that.each such link may move relative to the base 'only in a planesubstantially normal to the ex of'the connection between each such linkand the base, the remote end of each of the other links of each pairbeing connected at diflerent positions on the supporting journal member,the axis of each such connection being of such length that said linksmay move only in planes substantially normal to the axis of the rotatingout-of-balance load, and rubber torsion members for two or more of theaxes between said links and said supporting journal member, wherebymovement of the supporting journal member due to the rotation of theout-of-balance load is dampened and whereby the axis or theout-oi-balance load is caused to move only in positions substantiallyparallel to one another.

' KENNETH '0. SISSON.

CARL E; BOWYER.

